Est. 2016

This project made by mechanical engineers is made to replicate micro-gravity conditions in the stratosphere such as collecting temperature, acceleration and pressure. The group consisted of Juan A. Montoya, 23, Kristina Revueltas, 23, Shavawn Williamson, 26, Censay Darilus, 24, and Juan Ardila, 24.

Photos: UCF CECS Senior Design Showcase 2017

Hundreds of UCF engineering and computer science students gathered on Thursday morning to present 75 unique projects and inventions for the annual College of Engineering and Computer Science Senior Design Showcase 2017.

The showcase displays graduating seniors assigned projects to exhibit what they’ve learned during their undergraduate engineering programs. Engineering majors came out to the event, which was held in the Engineering II atrium on UCF’s main campus, to network, check out fellow students’ work and present their own projects.

One project, presented by a group of two computer engineering majors and one photonic science major, designed a laser ethernet transceiver. The invention is meant to create a more efficient network without fiber optics and can transmit signals on top of buildings rather than physically running wires underground, Benjamin Stuart, 22, said.

Stuart explained the difficulties of their semester project.

“Definitely designing the circuits, making sure that the signal is not being distorted and understanding that type of communication network process,” Stuart said. “Our degree might have not taught us directly on how those signals propagate, so we had to learn it ourselves.”

A group of mechanical engineering majors came together to create a project that would hold a vane together during a testing process. "A vane helps cool a turbine." Jason Pertmer, 27, said. Camilo Aldana, 22, Dillon Copa, 22, Cullen Fravel, 24, Cesar Lopez, 23, and Gabriel Izarra were also apart of the group project

This laser ethernet transceiver that can create a scaleable network without fiber optics. "In a metropolitan city you can create more links on top of buildings as opposed to going through the city and getting all these permits and digging up the ground," UCF photonic science major Benjamin Stuart, 22, said. Computer engineering majors Garrett Bennett and, 22, and George Salinas, 26, were also helped create the transceiver. Photo by Elisa Ramirez.

Another group of mechanical engineering majors present their project. "NASA tasked us to redistribute it to the arena because once it's gathered, its got to be put back for the next team with another robot." Photo by Elisa Ramirez.

This project made by mechanical engineers is made to replicate micro-gravity conditions in the stratosphere such as collecting temperature, acceleration and pressure. The group consisted of Juan A. Montoya, 23, Kristina Revueltas, 23, Shavawn Williamson, 26, Censay Darilus, 24, and Juan Ardila, 24.

Another project, named “Golden Jaws,” was designed by a group of UCF aerospace engineering students. They designed a fixed-wing, electrical, pusher-type airplane for their two-semester-long capstone project, which is meant to demonstrate what students learned throughout their undergraduate studies.

Group member Thomas Going, 23, explained what made the his team’s plane stand out from others in the competition.

“The main thing that differentiates us is are advanced manufacturing techniques that we used; a lot of the other teams hand built theirs, but we had the 3-D printer available to us,” Going said.